Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(46)

“I could help you work on it. I’m not as good as Hav. He was a f*ckin’ genius. But I know most of it and we could learn the rest.”

Nolan didn’t answer.

“Well, if you want. Or not. It’s cool.”

“That was our thing. We were doing it together.”

“I know. I get it.”

“No, you don’t. I’m gonna wait for my mom on the porch. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walked down the aisle and out of the barn.



oOo



Though the Midsummer Fair they held at the end of July was a typical fair, with carnival rides and games, music and fireworks, the Spring Fest had a different vibe. All the food booths were still there—in fact, even more food booths were there—but the only rides they had were for the little kids. It wasn’t a carnival so much as a big block party. The Signal Bend Spring Fest was a celebration of the beginning of the farming season. People ate and drank heavily. Their kids played in the corner where the few games and rides were set up. And the women of the town and its environs sold crafts on card tables. Despite the comparative lack of color and flash, the Spring Fest had had a reputation in its first incarnation for rowdiness by the end of the evening. Since it had been back underway, it continued to earn that rep.

Which meant that the Horde was on alert. Even though the town sentiment toward the club had chilled, their duty to keep order was unchanged. They’d taken on that responsibility long ago, when the police department had folded for lack of funding. The mayor continued to look to them to do that work, and the town business owners paid them to do it. That their days of universal respect and esteem seemed to have come to an end did not change their responsibility.

But it sure didn’t make it easier.

Today was a “goodwill” day for the Horde. They were out in force, manning their usual barbecue stand and walking through the crowd, making a concerted effort to be warm and friendly. Not that they weren’t usually. But it was a lot harder to be friendly when it was one-sided, and they were all noticing the chill.

The Horde with families brought their families. Isaac had Lilli and the kids along. Show and Shannon were, as usual, hand in hand—Shannon was about five months pregnant or so and looked twice that size.

They were having twins, something they’d only found out recently. Show had started wearing a permanent expression that was lost in limbo somewhere between ecstatic, bewildered, and terrified.

Cory had come with Nolan and Loki. Len and Tasha had ridden their bikes in together, which always caused a stir. She was the only old lady who rode. Lilli apparently knew how, and had once owned a pretty badass sportbike, but as far as Badger was aware, she only rode bitch now.

Badger had brought Adrienne and was enjoying walking through the stalls and the crowd with her, their fingers linked together. She was beautiful, dressed on this warm Saturday a lot like she’d been the day he’d met her: little denim cutoffs, a filmy top that showed a little slice of belly, her cowboy boots, and her jewelry. She wore a lot less jewelry these days than she had back then. Then, she’d had bracelets practically up to both elbows and rings on all ten fingers. Now, she wore a few bracelets on both arms and three rings on each hand. She said she’d gotten out of the habit of accessorizing so heavily when she was teaching in Asia.

In the past, when she’d visited in the summer and the weather was even warmer, she’d worn a silver bracelet that snaked around her upper arm. He hoped she’d still wear that—that thing was hot as the sun.

And these days, when she turned him on, he could do something about it.

She’d been subdued since she’d talked to her father last, when he’d told her she had to come home.

Obviously, she hadn’t left, and he had, so far, done as he’d threatened, refusing even to take her calls. She stopped trying after about a week. That was a few days ago, and, honestly, she was doing better now.

Calling, leaving increasingly sad voice mails, and waiting to hear back and been clawing hard at her. Giving up was making things a little easier, he thought.

She talked to her brothers, but they wouldn’t talk about their father. So Adrienne, it seemed, had really lost her father.

Badger couldn’t believe it was true. He was sorely tempted to ride all the way to New York state and convince that * how bad a mistake he was making. But there was another part of him that was, he was ashamed to admit even to himself, glad. He liked that there was less pulling on her, drawing her away from Signal Bend, away from him. For years, he’d been her friend mainly from afar. Now she was his girl, and he wanted her to stay put.

But she was sad, and he didn’t like that. Even if it did help him to feel strong, after he’d been so weak and pathetic, strung out and violent. She’d taken care of him. Now he was taking care of her, and he liked that very much.

She roamed the grounds with her camera while he did his turn in the barbecue booth. As soon as he was free, he went looking for her. He found her at the St. John’s booth, where church ladies were selling quilts and other old lady stuff. It looked like she was taking close-ups of a quilt hanging on the side of the booth. Or something. He walked up behind her and laid his hand on her back. Not startled at all, she turned and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hey. I got sprung. You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

As he pulled her away toward the food area, Badger saw that Havoc’s mother was working the booth.